Babysitting Blondie
by kamefootninja
Summary: A fight with Mumbo Jumbo leaves the team with a very strange problem. Suddenly finding themselves babysitting a certain blond titan that's a lot younger than he should be


**A/N** This is another very old fic (at least 6yrs old) that I found and cleaned up. There's no plot planned for this, I don't even know if Im going to continue this, but I figured maybe some people might get a laugh out of it

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"Uh, guy's? Where'd Jericho go?" Beast Boy blinked, trying to see through the thinning smoke that Mumbo Jumbo had disappeared in. The battle had gone badly from the start, first they hadn't been able to catch Mumbo, and now he'd managed to slip away after taunting them for being little kids.

"If we're lucky he's Inside Mumbo and halfway to the police station." Cyborg groaned, picking himself up from the floor where he'd been pinned by a giant magnet of all things.

"What are the chances of it being that easy." Robin half laughed, pulling out his communicator to track Jericho's location. The blond was still new to their team, he'd been a big help to them in Jump, but he was still a mystery to them in man you ways."I'm picking up Jericho's signal nearby."

"Guy's? You might want to take a look at this." Ravens stoic voice practically echoed as it carried from across the deserted car park. She was crouched down, looking over a short wall at something huddled up on the other side.

Instantly Starfire curiously flew to her side, her eyes wide and a smile curving up her lips when she saw what had caught Ravens attention. "Awww, he's is most adorable!" The alien princess cooed as the boy's came over to investigate.

They arrived next to Raven just in time to see Starfire, picking up a small blind boy and hugged him close to her, hovering slightly above the ground. "Do not be afraid small child, the fighting is over now."

"Put the kid down, Star, you're scaring 'im." Cyborg warned, seeing the poor kid struggling in her arms. Starfire didn't exactly give the softest hugs, but the kid looked about five and his wide eyes clearly showed that he didn't like it,

But before Cyborg could grab the kid out of Starfire's arms, she dropped him letting out a sharp 'ouch'. "Bad Boy! It is not nice to be biting people." Star fire complained, rubbing the faint red bite-mark on the top of her arm where he'd bitten her to make her let him go.

The small boy fell to his feet and backed away from the teenagers, his bright green eyes wide with fear and confusion. He was wearing a baggy white turtleneck shirt that looked too big for him, and dark bottoms, blond hair messy and falling around his face.

"Look at his eyes." Raven instructed, taking a step closer to the boy in question, making him take a cautious step back.

"Dude! is that?..." Beast Boy's eyes were almost as wide as the the young boy's, his mouth hanging open slightly as he took in the boys full appearance. Looking around the area he noticed a purple tunic scrunched up on the floor, and the shine of something gold mixed in, too big to fit on the slim child in front of them.

"Jericho?" Robin asked, the boy still looked weary, but now he also looked curious. He didn't seem to recognise any of them, but he visibly relaxed slightly when he noticed Robin's outfit.

"Poor kid must be scared to death." Cyborg frowned, looking down at the young blond sympathetically, staying behind his friends to give him some space.

Surprisingly, Cyborgs words seemed to trigger something in the kid, who suddenly straightened himself up to full height with a defiant look in her eyes.

"I'm not Scared!" He sounded offended at the suggestion, squaring his shoulders and trying to put on a brave front, even though his eyes still showed how confused and unsure he was.

Starfire yelped slightly as she darted backwards behind Robin in surprise. "I thought that friend Jericho could not do the speaking with his voice?!"

"My name's not Jericho." The boy explained, his voice softer now he wasn't shouting, but still with a unhidden bite to it. "And I don't even know who you are."

"But that's gotta be Jericho!" Beast Boy objected. The big Green eyes were so distinctive along with the soft blond curls, and he was clearly wearing Jericho's clothes even if the tunic and cuffs had fallen off.

"Wait, hang on a minute." Robin knelt down in front of him so that he was down on his level. "We might have made a mistake." Beast Boy was about to interrupt, but a silent glare from the spiky haired leader stopped him before he got the chance. "What's your name."

"Joseph." He answered slowly, looking Robin up and down as if trying to work something out. "You're Batman's new sidekick aren't you." He recognised the outfit and mask, but something was off, he asked like he wasn't one hundred percent sure.

Robin hesitated for a moment before answering him with a softer smile. "I'm Robin. And these are friends of mine, just want to help you. How old are you?"

Joey paused as if he had to actually think about that question. "Seven?"

Robin face was grim as he nodded. Jericho was only a year younger than him, and calling him Batman's 'new' sidekick proved that his theory was right. Somehow Mumbo had made Jericho ten years younger, memory an all, whatever happened to make Jericho lose his voice hadn't happened to him yet.

"Listen, Joey. You're gonna have to come back with us to our tower..." Robin started, pausing when he noticed Joey stepping further away from him.

"No I don't." He replied, his voice a silent warning as his eyes narrowed. "I don't know you. I don't have to go anywhere."

Robin sighed, he should have known it wouldn't be that easy. As far as Joey knew they were still strangers to him, even a seven year old knows not to go off with strangers, though most kids would trust a superhero. He bet batman or superman didn't have this kind of trouble.

"We're the Teen Titans. We're the good guys!" Beast Boy cut in, pushing a newspaper in front of the kid. The front page was a story featuring the Teen Titans taking down Dr. Light.

Joey quickly skimmed over the page, looking up suspiciously at the group in front of him. "Robin doesn't have his own team."

"Robin, I do not understand. Is Joseph our friend Jericho or not?" Starfire's confused voice asked from where she was standing between an equally confused Beast Boy and Cyborg.

"I'll explain back at the tower." Robin answered, not even looking back at her. "Are you from Jump?" He asked the suspicious blond.

"No?" His eyes widened slightly as he took in his surroundings, realising he had no idea where he was, but his protective attitude didn't change. "How did I get here?"

"What was the last thing you can remember?" Raven asked, moving to stand next to Robin. Although she didn't completely understand what was going on she had a good idea, and she trusted Robin enough to play along and ask questions later.

"Training with my family?" He didn't sound too sure, part of his brave front crumbled slightly, and his stance noticeably dropping.

"Training?" Cyborg didn't know what kind of training a seven year old would be given, but it felt like a weird way for a child to describe it.

With a slow nod Joseph rubbed his arm nervously, his brave front was cracking quickly now he realised he didn't know what was going on. "They want me to learn to defend myself, incase I get into trouble." He sounded almost ashamed of himself with that admission, as if a seven year old should have been fighting instead of running away from any danger.

"Who wants you to learn?" Raven was the one to ask, q but Robin cut her off before she could get an answer.

"Why don't you come back with us, and I'll ask batman to help track down your parents?" Apparently Robin had said the right thing, but Joseph relaxed a little more and nodded that he was okay with that. Whether it was the mention of batman, or the promise to find his family the did it, Robin counted that as a victory as he took Joseph's hand and lead him back to the tower while Starfire gathered the discarded uniform from the floor.


End file.
